By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea

Social groups are back in full swing with kids, teens, and adults of all ages coming to learn how to connect and become more confident in socializing.

Pretty much everyone is feeling anxious. The group participants are coming to a center where they might not know anyone. Parents are sending their children to a place that they hope is going to be the key to what’s been missing for their child to make friends. They worry about who else will be in the group. Will it be the right fit? Parents wonder, will the coach see my child’s struggle and be able to help? If connections aren’t made that first day or if the social challenge doesn’t reveal itself immediately, the worry grows.

We understand. When your child is not connecting socially with others, it’s concerning. We have experienced how it feels to know that your child might be getting teased or have no one to sit with at lunch. We understand your worry about the teen who is isolated and only wants to play video games.

Our advice is to let the “settling in” settle. Trust the process and the professionals who are coaching your child. We’ve got this. If over time, we have a concern that our program isn’t a good fit, we will absolutely let you know. Chances are, once the dust settles, we’ll see why they’re with us. We’ll see connections start to form and we’ll be right there to assist and guide to see that those budding friendships bloom.

It won’t always be smooth. Your child might get bonked, he or she might feel awkward at times, or feel like they don’t fit in. It takes time and effort to coach these skills but the process works, once the “settling in” settles.

By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs

NOTE: This is a post that I (Donna) put up in a hiking group that I belong to on Facebook. Anxiety impacts people of all ages, children included. When I ask children to do the hard cognitive behavioral work of managing anxiety, I come to them from a place of having to do it myself. This is a story of pushing through what scares you.

I quit hiking the White Mountains in New Hampshire three times. My significant other, Mike, and I started hiking in 2010. Not knowing much as beginners, we attempted Mount Washington up Tuckerman’s Ravine. I sobbed with panic, made it to the top and took the shuttle back down, and I swore I would never go up again. We continued with what I called our “nice hikes” until 2013 when I tried the 4K’s again. Three trips once again took me down with panic. Ledges, heights, and steepness took their toll.

Mike had the bug to do the 48 badly, (there is a list of 48 peaks to climb that are 4000 feet or higher), so in 2015, I tried again. We made another three trips, and I had to tell him that I couldn’t do it. Mike went on to finish the 48 in 2015, and even went back and repeated the ones we had already done so that he could have them all in one hiking season. I became his support person and would drop him off and pick him up for traverses. I would frequently hike in with him in the morning and then turn around and then hike in again at the end of the day to meet him. I liked the exercise; I couldn’t cope with the fear once I got too far in and it started getting technically tough. I considered myself a trail bottom feeder. Other hikers would ask what number Mike and I were on, and I always had to answer that I wasn’t completing the list of hikes, Mike was. I always felt a little “less than” in those conversations.

In 2016, he somehow tricked me up Zealand Mountain (we’ll just go to the lookout, he said.) We tried again with the Kinsmans. I made it, but I quit yet again. It isn’t fun to have public panic attacks. We went back to nice hikes. Unfortunately, even those started to become panic situations, and I started to feel sick on even the easier trails, thinking that I was going to have a heart attack or collapse out in the woods. I’ve always “run on anxiety,” but it was beginning to impact not only hiking but the quality of life in general. I knew what it was, but it was getting beyond coping with it on my own.

At the risk of over-sharing, because maybe this will help someone, somewhere, I talked to my doctor about it. As I am 53 years old, we decided that the increase in panic attacks and anxiety was tied into change-of-life stuff. I tried six more months to manage it on my own and then I had enough. I agreed to try a low dose of anti-anxiety medication. In a week or two, I was feeling much better.

I don’t remember how we decided to try one more time, but I did. In July of 2017, we went up Mount Hale. Then Cannon (up and down Kinsmann Ridge Trail, which is not easy!). I discovered that a happy side effect of the medication was that my fear of hiking was no longer there. Instead of my brain telling me that I was going to fall and die out there (the amygdala), I was able to access the parts of my brain that just simply looked for where I needed to put my foot next (the frontal cortex). We talk to kids about how anxiety impacts these parts of the brain. I went on to finish ten peaks in 2017, bringing my total to 20.

The success of 2017 spurred me on, and this year, we made a big push to the finish. We climbed 28 peaks between the end of May and this past weekend. One particularly tough mountain I had saved until the end caused some panic, as I expected it would, but I was able to stand there, shake it off and tell myself that I couldn’t quit (as much as I desperately wanted to).

So even though I felt silly, this is why I danced on #48. And while I appreciate the passion that most hikers have for climbing those 4000 footers, I am ready to go back to my nice hikes, but this time, knowing that I’m a member of the 4000 footer club, earned my certificate, looked fear in the face and conquered it.

Guest Blog Post
By Trent Briggs

This blog was inspired by a collegiate assignment that examined the “good life”.

Immediately interested, Joe and I take a look. That night we drove to the market, bought cookie dough, and made cookie spoons, or, tried to. What we created before we put them in the oven, couldn’t be more perfect, and this plan was completely foolproof, right? Well, not-so-much after seeing what they looked like after the oven. These cookie spoons were the biggest waste of time ever, or were they?

Was making cookie spoons a waste of my time, or was it a valid part of my conversation of a good life? In one of my freshman classes, we studied various views on leisure and what that means in our lives. One view was that leisure and work go hand in hand, and complement each other. Discipline describes the balance between doing the things you want to do and doing the things you need to do. If one has a good balance of those two things, they have discipline. If the goal of this discipline is happiness, then the goal of balance is happiness. One must balance their work and their leisure to achieve happiness.

In the example of my cookie spoons, I had just finished an essay which completed my work. Then I started making those failures of cookie spoons which was my leisure. Some feel that leisure should be aimed at self improvent and that free time is time doing neither work nor leisure. I believe that free time must be turned into work or leisure, for one can never do “nothing.” It is this balance of work and leisure that leads to happiness, and inherently, the good life.

So, how does one go about living the good life? Well, I would recommend making some cookie spoons to start, but other than that be disciplined and not allow leisure to overtake work. Do not allow work to overtake leisure either. A life with all work and no play is not a good life. Having a balance of these things allows for happiness and the good life.

Hysterical cookie spoon fails count too.

Trent Briggs, is a sophomore at Saint Anselm College.

What is it? Mr. Aaron’s guide to things kids love and we parents might struggle to understand.

Guest blogger Aaron Shea is a parent of a tween, a kid at heart, was born during how things were and has adapted to how things are.

FORTNITE – What is it?

You’ve probably heard of it. If your kids aren’t playing it themselves, they probably want too, as it is likely they know someone who is. Here is a guide for those parents who may be late to the craze, and either can’t decide if it’s right for their child or want to know more about the game that has already seeped its way into the house.

Fortnite is the latest video game obsession to gain recognition at the level of Angry Birds. Since its release almost a year and a half ago, it has become a staple among many of the smartphone generation. Now available on all platforms, it is easily the most genius moneymaking game on the market, and it’s free. (That is, free to download and play online Battle Royale without membership.) More on “free” shortly. Let’s begin with the basic question.

What is Fortnite? What do you do? Is it okay for younger kids?
Fortnite is a massive online multiplayer shooter game. I know, “online shooter” can seem like a scary thing and an automatic N-O from a lot of parents, but this one is friendly enough. Remember that ratings are suggestions, it’s up to you to decide what you want your kids playing (and for how long each day or week). Fortnite has been given a teen rating for the obvious gunplay involved. However, it is gunplay in its mildest form. There is no blood and gore, crude jokes, or realistic graphics. I, as a dad to a tween, give it a family-friendly stamp of approval, but other parents might not. The always looming uncertainty of voice chat is about the only thing anyone should find “iffy” about this game. It requires the same amount of caution you would require of your child on any of the online gaming forums. A great resource to find out more about specific games to help you make decisions about whether or not you will allow your child to play them is Common Sense Media. Here is the link for Fortnite:  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/fortnite/user-reviews/adult

Battle Royale (the free mode) is the mode most kids want to play, and it consists of teams of 1-4 people who can chat and work together to attempt and survive the longest out of up to 100 people playing together. Each round lasts up to about 15 minutes, and is 100% fair in every way, in fact, it is a bit reminiscent of the Hunger Games. Every round begins on an island where everyone can goof off until the bus (plane) takes off, and then it begins. Once the doors open, players have around 30 seconds to choose a destination towards which to skydive. Each player begins unarmed, and upon landing must quickly move to find weapons.

Once equipped, the game is about survival coming from two threats, your opponents, and the storm. The storm is what keeps the game moving by forcing players to certain areas of the map to stay alive. By shrinking the map like this, it ensures players WILL find one another. When this happens, it comes down to strategy, both defensive and offensive. Players use whatever resources they gather along the way to build forts and walls to protect themselves, all while attempting to eliminate one another.

Let me speak from experience when I say that winning a round is a longshot. I, like many players, have never been the last man standing, and take satisfaction whenever I make the top 10. A good parental view is that losing this game is a given and learning to lose is always a great real-life lesson. If your child has any anger issues brought on by competitive games, then this may not be the game for them.

What isn’t free to play? What would kids need to purchase?
The developers were genius to make this game free while being so fun and enthralling. By doing so, they create a huge fan base, which means multitudes of players, and everyone wants to stand out. Players do so by unlocking costumes as they level up. However, many players want costumes that not everyone can unlock in the free version. And this is where the money comes in.

Players can spend money on “V-Bucks” which is used to unlock unique costumes that aren’t available to everyone. I’ll admit, there are some cool ones, but in my opinion, it’s this kind of virtual spending that is impacting the understanding of the value of money for this young generation. I have not and will not ever spend REAL money on virtual avatars as many people do in this game, and I am a diehard gamer.

There is, however, a one-time payment available to unlock “Save the World” mode, which is considered the actual story-based game in Fortnite. I am a huge fan of this mode, and I prefer it over multiplayer. If your child plays, I suggest purchasing this mode. Not only is it an actual game, but you can earn “V-Bucks” while playing it, which you can then spend on costumes in multiplayer version. There is no real money wasted, and they must earn it!

Fortnite is a game based on an RPG cartoon zombie survival plot. Players complete missions, search for supplies and treasure and progress through the story. In my opinion, it’s worth the money as far as video games go.

That is all there is to it! I hope these questions and answers were helpful. Look out for future guest blogs from Mr. Aaron.

By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs

There is a young girl I know who is close to my heart. She is one of the kindest young people you might ever meet. She, like me, struggles with the “why” of purposeful meanness on the part of other people. She finds herself caught up in the roar of the relational meanness that girls are so capable of and finds herself limiting her friend pool to those she feels she can trust to be real. She hates the drama, but like so many other kids her age, finds it nearly impossible to escape. Fortunately, she has a village of caring adults she can turn to, where other kids might not. I told her that both of us may never make sense of it because there is no sense TO it.

I love talking to her about life. She is so open and so accepting of everyone and everything and all heart. She turned me on to watching the Netflix series “Anne with an E” as she deeply connects with the character of Anne and how she perceives the world and all of the colorful, unique and amazing people in it. Like both this girl and me, Anne is hard on herself sometimes, but a soft place to land for her friends and the people she loves. Even though the series is a period piece, it tackles many of the issues that we humans struggle with today. She asks me, as I ask myself, “Why are people so mean? Why can’t we all just live and let live?”

I wish I had that answer for her. Don’t we all, at our core as humans want the same things for ourselves and our children? If you sat us all down as individuals, I think we would find ourselves in complete agreement. Why is it, that as groups, large or small, we turn to meanness?

I know that there is also no immediate answer to her question. But I talk to her, and I talk to other young people, and I have hope. I have hope that acceptance and kindness can become the norm. I have hope in humans that we can still evolve and learn to work together. To quote Anne, “Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.”

By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea

A close friend of ours is going through an extremely challenging and life-altering event. As people who have both also experienced life-altering events, we have a perspective that we are quite certain isn’t currently on the mind of our dear friend as she does her best to tackle the hurdles coming her way each day.

We can share this perspective, but it may not be truly learned and internalized until a personal tragedy shapes it in you. Sadly, not all of us will come out a stronger person when we experience a trial, but we believe that we all possess the ability to do so. So, what is the difference between a person who is shattered by life’s events versus one who becomes empowered?

We believe that everyone has the ability to find both inner peace and power within. Imagine yourself as you stand in the sand by the ocean. It where you experience both. The calm of the warm sand and the peacefulness of the sights, sounds, and smells of the beach, contrasted by the immense power of the ocean waves. They are never-ending and the power of the water is unquestionable. We all possess those traits and can access both peace and power when we have the tools to chip away at our outer layers of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Only then will these attributes be revealed. The uncovering of peace and power often happens while managing intense life challenges. When we are thrust into untenable situations,  it is then that what is within us and what we are capable of, begins to reveal itself.

Some of us will reject the experience and bury ourselves in self-pity. We become stuck in a mindset that is sad and we feel victimized by life. Finding your own inner peace and power is not for others to present to you, but a choice that only you can make. It is finding ways to find the good even though everything around you is really, really bad at that moment in time. It is focusing on being grateful for what is right, rather than feeling miserable about what is wrong. It is acknowledging that experiences are happening to you for a purpose. It is discovering how you can use the lessons you have learned through what you have lived to help others. It is being the person who now feels empowered enough to one day help other people explore that they are powerful too.  It is helping people to understand that peace does lie deep within us. It is the job of each of us to unearth it for ourselves, but it is there. Both peace and power exists within each of us – have you found yours? If yes, you understand this perspective. If no, don’t give up and give in to despair. Life hands us all events that alter us in ways that we wouldn’t choose, but we do have the power to choose how we handle them.

By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs

What good thing happened today? That is a question that my (Donna) significant other Mike and I are working into our daily conversations. We both come home from long days of the special kind of stress that self-employment can add to life, have families that need a significant amount of support beyond the typical, and as anyone would, tend to start sharing whatever stressful moments occurred that day. It is human nature to focus on the negative.

Life hands us an equal amount of the positive if we just stop to look for it. One strategy is to stop and ask that question. What good thing or things DID happen today? Why were they good? It stops us in our tracks and starts us searching our brains for positive things to share. Maybe there was a great review of one of our books. Maybe Mike was able to save a real estate transaction by calming down a nervous buyer (he’s a home inspector). We may spend time with a grandchild, had a client express appreciation for our work, planned out our next hiking trip, or this week had furniture delivered that we have wanted for a long time.

In all honesty, I’ve had trouble finding the good stuff the last few days as everyone occasionally does. Summer at work can be tough. I have some things going on that I have felt discouraged about. I have been worried about good friends who are going through some tough times. I frequently experience anxiety about family members and finances. So, is it easy to switch your negative thoughts to positive ones? Not always. It’s the same as working out at the gym. You have to keep working your brain “muscle” to develop it into a more positive one.

Sometimes just trying to switch your thinking isn’t enough and your brain gets stuck in a negative mode. There are times when switching your actions is the key to finding the good stuff. We took our granddaughter to Harry Potter paint night. We went for a walk in a downtown area we hadn’t explored in awhile and made plans to go back. We started watching Anne with an E on Netflix. I bought fresh apple cider donuts from the farm stand near our home. Getting in the kitchen to try a new recipe always shuts down those thoughts and creates pleasant ones.

The ability to train yourself to be more optimistic and positive is researched based on the field of positive psychology. You can help children do this too. Teach kids how to go on a “good stuff hunt.” To get started, it’s as easy as looking for three good things that happen over the course of the day, why they were good, and then writing them down at night before you go to sleep. Do it with your child or children.

And if you do find yourself or a member of your family caught up in a negative spin or complaining, let them get it out and then ask, “what good thing happened today?” We know that every day is full of both. Accentuating the positive will increase well-being, decrease stress and make it easier to handle the other stuff life throws us.

By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea
I (Nadine) had the pleasure of being part of a very exciting movement. I spent last week in Fort Worth, Texas at The World Positive Education Accelerator (WPEA) with 800 other delegates who have created plans to increase the use of positive education worldwide. The fact that there is a global effort to improve the well-being of children is beyond exciting. What is Positive Education? The definition of Positive Education as described by the World Government Summit is:

Positive Education is an approach to education that blends academic learning with character & well-being. Preparing students with life skills such as grit, optimism, resilience, growth mindset, engagement, and mindfulness amongst others. Positive education is based on the science of well-being and happiness.

(source: https://www.worldgovernmentsummit.org/api/publications/document/8f647dc4-e97c-6578-b2f8-ff0000a7ddb6)

When I read that description, my mind says “Yes! A million times, yes!” As parents, we want nothing more in life than to have happy kids. Science has proven how to do exactly that and it isn’t difficult to do. It is a focus on character strengths and a concerted effort to improve what is known as PERMA, an acronym for positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. Character strengths are comprised of 6 virtues and the strengths within each.

Wisdom and knowledge: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective, innovation
Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality, zest
Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership
Temperance: forgiveness and mercy, humility, prudence, self-control
Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

When considering character strengths and the elements of PERMA, it is easy to see why we see it as a critical focus in social skills coaching. For me personally, The World Positive Education Accelerator conference was the first time that I truly felt like I was “with my people” in a professional sense. Most social skills programs and the professionals that run them do not follow what we have been studying for at least six years. In fact, while I was in Texas, most professionals who help with social skills were at an entirely different conference and one that I or Donna would ever consider attending. So why are we two of the only social coaches who use it? Because others take a clinical and treatment approach to friendship and we do not. We are happily swimming in the completely opposite direction.

The bottom line is that our children need to be okay. They are our future and they need to feel like others value them and they need to feel worthy. They need to find what can truly engage them so that when they are in that space, they have found true contentment or “flow”. They need quality relationships with people who truly care about them and are enjoyable to be with. The need to find whatever it is that will give their lives meaning. Perhaps, as is the case with us, our careers will provide meaning and others might volunteer or find another way to their purpose. If our children have all of these aspects in their lives, then they will thrive. It will show through their achievements. They will take their signature strengths and use them to the fullest. And they will be okay. They will be living their lives with contentment and well-being and they will find happiness.

Positive Education is the game changer for our children and there are 800 professionals working to spread the news to the world and I am honored to be among them.

By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs

I (Donna), spent the last week on a vacation that was predominantly centered around hiking the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

I’ve noted the camaraderie among hikers before. This time though, I really saw the kindness and connection that exists out there in the middle of nowhere. Everyone says hello to each other. People stop, wait and smile if someone is a little slower going up or down. We stop and chat to find out where other folks are headed or have come from, and share stories for a brief time before heading off again.

Hikers check on each other, offering water or snacks. I can remember a particularly tough summit where we noticed a couple of hikers waiting above, just to be sure that we were okay and going to make it to the top. We exchanged a thumbs up but didn’t get a chance to thank them. We talked to a family that was on their first big hike and answered all their questions. People gave each other the heads up about what we were running into as far as safety concerns on the trails. We were giving a hand up out of a rushing stream bed when we were soaking wet. You can trust each other out there. You can leave your pack on the trail to go off and do a short spur and find it right where you left it, untouched.

We had the pleasure of running into several through hikers who were hiking the Appalachian Trail. One was a young guy, just turned 21, from Billerica, MA, not far from us that we met in one of the high huts where shelter and food are offered and fresh water can be had. These guys operate on a pretty tight budget, so he was able to purchase food, but we could hear him talking to himself about passing on the decadent chocolate cake that was sitting on the table. We told him to go right ahead and help himself to the cake as it was on us. He joined us while we all ate and listened to some of his adventures on the trail as well as how he was getting lonely homesick and wanted to finish.

What strikes me over and over, is that there are no strangers on the trails, just fellow hikers. And then it gets me to wondering why there is a need to act like strangers anywhere. Aren’t we all fellow humans? Shouldn’t it really just be a piece of cake?